Judicial agents pick up a well-known sex tourist Friday, and the case
raises a multitude of free speech issues.

The arrest also might be the beginning of a crackdown on Web sites and
businesses here that cater to North Americans in search of prostitutes.

At the very least the case has injected a bit of paranoia among some
expats who wonder who turned in Cuba Dave, whose real name is David
Strecker.

Agents detained the 65-year-old man as he got off a plane at Juan
Santamaría airport Friday. The agency, the Judicial
Investigating Organization, was unable to say Sunday what has followed,
although there is a good chance that Strecker spent the weekend
in prison.

He faces an allegation that he promotes Costa Rica through social
networks as a place for sexual tourism. Agents said they were working
on confidential information, which resulted in the finger pointing in
the Gringo community. There also is a suggestion that the tip came from
U.S. law enforcement.

Specifically the judicial agency said that Strecker uploaded photos and
videos to social network sites that promoted the country as a sex
tourism destination.

The free speech dimension comes from the possible prosecution of
someone for posting truthful information on the Web.
Strecker used to write on a site that used his nickname Cuba Dave. It
is cubadave.com, but it is operated by a fellow Key West man identified
by the Internet authorities as Henry Allen. And the site is not
even published from Costa Rica. Its Internet service provider is in San
Francisco, California.

Lately Strecker's recent first-person sex tourism reports have
concerned Sosua, a community in the Dominican Republic, according to
the WayBack Machine, an Internet service that archives Web site pages
that no longer are current. The cubadave.com site shows a note that
says it is down for maintenance.

Strecker also posts to his own Facebook page.

Judicial agents said they began the investigation at the beginning of
the year. Strecker is proud of his activities that date to boat trips
to Cuba in the 1990s. He was the object of an extensive article in New
Times Miami, which might have attracted the attention of the
authorities there.

The Dec. 13, 2013, news article noted that Strecker claimed to have had
sexual experiences with 2,500 prostitutes under 25 years of age.

Judicial agents also are proud in that they pointed out the arrest of
the man was the first under the law prohibiting promotion of Costa Rica
as a sex tourism destination.

The anti-sex tourism law comes from the president Laura Chinchilla
administration.

Article 8 of the law's Chapter Three says that anyone who promotes or
carries out programs, campaigns, publicity announcements, making use of
any medium to project the country at the national and international
level as a tourist destination accessible for commercial
sexual exploitation or prostitution of
persons of whatever age or sex shall be penalized with from
four to
eight years of prison.

The following article expands the range of
suspects to those who own,
rent, possess or

The heading of cubadave.com

Judicial Investigating Organization
photo

David Strecker a/k/a/ Cuba Dave in custody.

administer an establishment or place designed for or
benefiting from the trafficking of persons or related activities.

The section was part of a lengthy
trafficking-in-persons law.
Officials then said they were concerned about articles and advertising
that appeared in newspapers and online in the United States.

Strecker
has published several books that describe his sexual tourism exploits.

At the time the law was proposed, A.M. Costa Rica questioned its
constitutionality.

Another part of the same law raised the airport exit
tax $1, ostensibly to provide care for persons who have been
trafficked.

One of Strecker's online defenders posted a comment
over the weekend noting that what the man is accused of promoting is
legal in Costa Rica. Paid sex between consenting adults is not punished
in Costa Rica, and there are hundreds of female and transgender
prostitutes in the metro area. The poster also noted that North
American sex tourism might make up just 10 percent of the activity with
prostitutes here. The remainder involves Costa Ricans, the posting said.

The politics of sex tourism and trafficking in persons is complex, and
there is a lot of grant money involved. The U.S. State Department
repeatedly ignores in its annual trafficking in persons report that
adult prostitution is not a criminal act in Costa Rica. The department
considers every woman in prostitution to be a trafficking victim, and
its employees appear to be totally ignorant of male prostitution in
Costa Rica.

The U.S. report has considerable impact here. Costa Rican officials
make selective raids and arrests to look good in the State Department's
next annual report. This year the department claimed without evidence
that the north and central Pacific coasts of Costa Rica were places
where women and children were being trafficked for commercial sexual
exploitation.

So this morning the Cámara de Comercio y Turismo de
Tamarindo and the Fundación Rahab plan a conference on the topic
at the Hotel Tamarindo
Diriá. Fundación Rahab is one of those
organizations that profit from
U.S. grants to aid former prostitutes. This also is the organization
that sends volunteers along on police raids to administer
questionnaires to prostitutes.

The contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission.
Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more
details

A.M. Costa Rica's
professional directory is where business people who wish to reach the
English-speaking community may invite responses. If you are interested
in being represented here, please contact the editor.

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8596-8/27/15

Ministerio
de Seguridad Pública
photo

Fuerza Pública officers rescued
these two
young owls from a tree in
Parrita after neighbors expressed concern that the
parents
had not
been seen. The screech owl chicks were turned over to
environmental
officials for tending and eventual release.

This year's book fair begins Sept. 18

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The 19th edition of the Feria Internacional del Libro begins
Sept. 18 for a 10-day run.
The book fair is a major cultural event each year in Costa Rica. This
year, Central America will be the invited guests. Authors from El
Salvador, Panamá, Nicaragua and Honduras will be featured.

Once again the location will be the Antigua Aduana on Calle 23,
which will be filled to capacity with booths of editorial houses and
retail outlets.

Although the bulk of the books are in Spanish, there are plenty of
English books and activities to interest even the mono-lingual expat.

The book fair is the way Costa Rica promotes its writers to the rest of
the world. In addition to the Cámara Costarricense del Libro,
the
sponsor is the Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud.

Burmeister during an inspection of
a container of pineapples from
Costa Rica. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that this
marks the first interception of this pest in the United States.

The bug is a member of the family Aradidae, also known as flat bugs
because of their extremely

Surprise find.

flattened bodies. Flat bugs are distant
relatives
of the more familiar stink bugs.

Although the bug was new to inspectors in Miami, the species is common
in Central America. It has been collected in Panamá and
Guatemala,
according to online sources.

The damage caused by Hesus
flaviventris Burmeister is not clearly defined in the scientific
literature, but stink bugs cause damage to a host of commercial crops,
including corn. The stink bug feeds on the leaves and sometimes
the fruit and causes spots that detract from the commercial value.

Popular comedian leads in Guatemala

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

A comedian could be Guatemala's next president.

Jimmy Morales, a comedic actor and political novice, is leading the
pack, according to early results. The top three are headed for a
presidential runoff after Sunday's election in Guatemala.

With about half of the votes counted, Morales has 26 percent of the
ballots. His campaign slogan "not corrupt, not a thief" resonated
with voters after a corruption scandal rocked Guatemala late last week,
ending in the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina.

"I planted love in my homeland, and now I'm harvesting that love,"
Morales said Sunday after casting his vote.

Conservative businessman Manuel Baldizon trailed Morales with 18
percent of the ballots, while former first lady Sandra Torres had 17
percent of the votes.

Sunday's presidential, congressional and municipal elections were for a
four-year term to begin in 2016. Until then, former Vice President
Alejandro Maldonado will lead Guatemala.

Hundreds of protesters called for the election to be delayed as they
gathered at the Supreme Court building in Guatemala City where
Pérez
Molina appeared in court Thursday and Friday.

Pérez Molina said in court he is innocent of accusations that he
accepted $800,000 in an alleged bribery ring nicknamed The Line. The
nickname references the special telephone line said to have been
reserved for businessmen who allegedly paid bribes to officials to
avoid import taxes.

The former president said in court Friday that he accepted no bribes
and bragged that he had been offered and refused 10 times that amount
from fugitive drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán when the
Mexican drug kingpin was captured in 1993.

The ousted president's mention of Guzmán also served as a
reminder that
Pérez Molina had been behind the long-sought fugitive's arrest.
Guzmán
has since escaped from prison in Mexico by bribing prison officials.

Pérez Molina has not yet been formally charged. He next appears
in
court on Tuesday.

Thousands of Guatemalans filled the streets last week when news of the
president's resignation spread. They had been protesting for months,
demanding that he step down. Perez Molina was elected in 2011 on an
anti-corruption pledge.

Guatemala continues to be one of Latin America's most impoverished
countries.

An 85-year-old Cuban-American was the object of a four-day search on
his property in Coloradito de Corredores after a friend reported
him missing Wednesday.

Saturday afternoon agents undertook an extensive search of his home and
property. They found his body in a barrel in an area behind his home,
they reported. The man was identified by the last name of
Machado, and the Judicial Investigating Organization said he had lived
in the area in southern Costa Rica for several years. Agents initially
were unable to determine how the man died. The body has been remanded
to the judicial morgue. However, they do have a suspect.

Friends told agents that the man rented part of his property to flower
producers but that he had continual disputes with them. One of those
who worked the land has since left for his home country of Nicaragua,
and agents would like to talk with him, they said.

In another case, judicial agents said that the body of a 34-year-old
man with the last name of Oviedo was found in a street in
Rincón Herrera, Guácima de Alajuela Sunday. Agents
said
that neighbors heard cries for help about 2 a.m. Sunday, and when they
investigated they found the man's body near his vehicle on his own
property. The man had defensive wounds on his arms, a stab wound to the
chest and a head injury believed administered by a large rock found
near the body, said agents.

Judicial Investigating Organization
photo

Agents said the body was
here.

Thieves seek out turtle eggs even in Parque Nacional Manuel
Antonio

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Turtle egg thieves don't respect the boundaries of Parque Nacional
Manuel Antonio. Officers of the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas
said they encountered one man at Playa Rey in the park early Sunday and
said that he carried a bag with 82 green turtle eggs. He was
traveling on a bicycle.

In addition, the officers said they found a bag that contained 87 more
eggs that someone seems to have dropped to avoid detection by officers
who were patrolling the area. The two bags of eggs were to be taken to
a location in Quepos where they will be given a chance to hatch.

At this time of year, several species of turtles are depositing their
eggs on beaches in the country. Eating turtle eggs has been
considered a bounty of the sea for centuries in Costa Rica, but
officials try to emphasize that turtles are worth more for tourism than
as food.

Proliferation of online cybercrooks blur line between spying
and stealing

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

To say that 2015 has so far been seeing new heights of corporate and
government computer attacks, as well as an escalation in the sheer
daring of those hacks, is to risk understatement.

The list grows daily: 80 million health insurance records stolen from
Anthem Insurance; 27 million private personnel records swiped from the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management; the breach of unclassified systems
and the White House, State Department, and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and
on and on.

Computer network security professionals have been left scrambling just
to fix the hacks that have already happened, let alone prevent new
attacks. The situation is so dire that some analysts said they worry
the good guys might never catch up.

These attacks, of course, occur for a wide range of reasons: hunting
for credit cards, governments spying on adversaries, or hacktivists
trying to make a statement.

Yet as distinct as the reasons and actors may be, some security
analysts increasingly worry about a new trend of groups and attacks
that are trying to blur the traditional lines between crime and
espionage. And that, they say, is only going to make preventing future
attacks all the more difficult.

When cybersecurity analysts talk about the Internet, they tend to use
phrases like threat field or threat space, meaning the entire range of
threats that any given group, corporation or government might face
online.

Different targets have widely varying threat fields. For example, an
aerospace firm working on classified military projects will have a very
different threat space from that of a large consumer retailer like
giant retailer Target, which in turn would have a different threat
space than a small political activist group.

“Groups conducting cyberattacks may use similar tactics, like
spear-phishing, but they’re very different, both in nature and in
motivations,” says Patrick McBride, vice president of communications at
iSight Partners, one of the largest U.S. cyber-threat intelligence
firms. “The starting point is the difference between information and
intelligence.”

McBride says it isn’t enough for government or corporate security
officials to build strong cyber defenses around their systems to fend
off future hacks. They have to understand the threats unique to their
enterprise, and that means understanding the opponents they face and
their motivations.

“The bad guys are the competition,” he said. “You need to head into
this as you would against any adversary, with knowledge about what they
do and have a strategic plan to fight back.”

In both the cyber and military spheres, analysts often draw a
distinction between information and intelligence.

“Information is raw and unfiltered,” McBride said. “It’s unevaluated
when it’s delivered, it’s pulled from every source, there could be
truth in there or falsehoods, it may not necessarily be relevant.
Intelligence is processed and sorted information. Someone actually has
to sort through the noise to establish the truth.”

For cybersecurity analysts, this is key. Learning of a new hack on
their computer network and when it happened is information, but
discerning who was responsible and what their goals are is intelligence
that can help prevent a future attack.

This becomes even more important when analysts consider the types of
hackers that usually target specific government agencies or
corporations with large amounts of secret data.

“These are persistent threats that don’t give up, and are always
refining new techniques of how to breach your system,”
said
McBride. “A lot of the nation states that we
monitor, or at least the actors that appear connected to those

nation
states, they’re utilizing new techniques and tools in far-flung regions
or more obscure places and refining them before they show up at your
doorstep.”
There’s another important intelligence distinction: the difference
between crime and spying.

“Cyber criminals and hacktivists are looking for financial gain pretty
much, or to make a statement,” says Sarah Hawley, a member of iSight’s
cyber espionage team. “Those conducting cyber espionage are looking for
bodies of information that gives them a strategic advantage over their
adversary. They are covert, and they want to persist.”

Ms. Hawely said iSight is tracking approximately 30 threat groups with
a Chinese nexus or base. She’s quick to add that China is not alone in
the online espionage game.
While data thieves might just want to get in and out of a system
quickly and then move on, cyber-espionage groups often employ long-term
tactics that mix tried-and-true tricks, such as spear-phishing, which
is the use of spoofing emails, combined with newer techniques.

Ms. Hawley cites one Chinese-nexus group that targeted defense industry
conferences, then cross-referenced attendees with publicly available
contact information to build a sophisticated spear-phishing campaign to
use spoofing emails seeking personal data.

“That led us to believe that they used these lists as a means to
acquire targets, likely for their access to sensitive databases related
to defense and aerospace technologies,” Ms. Hawley said. “We’ve seen
multiple Chinese-nexus attacks like this targeting a variety of
industries; we’ve also seen this from Russia.”

Yet as troublesome as hacks like this can be, Ms. Hawley also points to
another trend, one designed to confuse the target’s intelligence and
scramble the lines between espionage and crime.
A good example of this blurring came earlier this summer when iSight
investigators started looking deeper into a group calling itself the
Cyber Caliphate, a hacktivist group purportedly supporting the broad
goals of the Islamic State extremist group.

In February, Cyber Caliphate hackers created headlines when they
temporarily seized control of the Twitter and YouTube accounts for the
U.S. Central Command, posting incendiary threats and comments. Other
targets, such as Newsweek magazine’s Twitter feed, were also briefly
compromised.

But Ms. Hawley says researchers at iSight Partners later unearthed
evidence that the Cyber Caliphate wasn’t all it seemed.

“We determined that they were a false front for Russian actors we
called Tsar Team,” she said. “We began to see technical indicators that
the two were sharing resources, and we determined that the two groups
are either one in the same, or at the very least are connected by some
over-arching organization.”

Tsar Team is a Russian-based cyber-espionage group that earlier had
targeted NATO, the Ukrainian government and the European Union using a
zero-day vulnerability known as Sandworm.

“Ultimately we determined that Tsar Team and the Cyber Caliphate were
using the same infrastructure,” said Ms. Hawley. “That type of cover
could give them the freedom to spread propaganda, test new hacking
tools and techniques, and espionage campaigns down the road. But it
also confuses efforts to determine actors and motivations.”

And creating confusion in intelligence of just who is behind
cyberattacks and what their motivations are only makes the difficult
job of protecting sensitive computer networks from hackers harder still.

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Largest art gallery in GuanacasteDrop in to see some of
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The Hidden Garden Art
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Beautiful Cottages for rent

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International experts reviewing the Mexican government's probe of the
2014 abduction and disappearance of 43 students have rejected the
government's official narrative, accusing investigators of mishandling
evidence and relying solely on statements from suspects.

A more than 400-page analysis was released Sunday by the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, the autonomous rights arm of the
Organization of American States. It does not speculate on the
ultimate fate of the missing students, who disappeared one year ago in
southern Mexico's Guerrero state.

But it says there is no evidence supporting the government's central
claim that the students were captured by local police and turned over
to drug cartel assassins after commandeering buses for transportation
to a protest.

Under that theory, first presented late last year by Mexico's former
attorney general, the bodies of the students from the Ayotzinapa Rural
Teachers College were dumped at a trash site and incinerated outside a
nearby town.

Sunday's report said the dump fire was not strong enough to burn the
victims to ashes, and it said investigators from Chile, Colombia,
Guatemala and Spain based that finding on independent expert analysis.

The government had not commented on the report by late Sunday.

The document says the students may have unwittingly hijacked a bus full
of drugs or drug money that corrupt police were seeking to
recover. It also says police and federal military units were
tracking the movement of the students before they disappeared, while
stressing that much of what occurred on Sept. 26, 2014 remains unknown.

The report details missing evidence that includes a bus seen on
security camera footage on the night of the disappearances. It
also notes U.S. evidence that a drug gang in Guerrero state transports
heroin to the United States in secret bus compartments.

The government's failure to account for all but one of the students or
to impress the Mexican public with the thoroughness of the probe has
rattled the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto and sparked
widespread international criticism.

Human rights activists and parents of the students continue to voice
outrage that the investigation has been based on the testimony of more
than 100 people arrested on suspicion of involvement in the
disappearances. The detainees include the former mayor of the
town of Iguala.

Government critics also allege that many of the detainees gave
statements to police only after undergoing torture.

Hundreds of refugees reach
Austria headed for Germany

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Europe is preparing for a new wave of refugees as word filters back to
others that the passage through Hungary is now easier.

Hundreds arrived Sunday at Vienna’s Westbahnhof station aboard trains
from the Hungarian border, after officials in Hungary decided to allow
thousands of refugees who had been stranded in Budapest to travel by
train to the border.

Trains carrying refugees from the Hungarian border town of Hegyeshalom
were met by cheers and applause from Austrian onlookers waiting on the
station platform.

It was a far cry from their experience in Hungary, where police last
week tear gassed the migrants and prevented them from reaching Austria.

Thousands had camped at Budapest’s Keleti station as trash built up and
portable toilets overflowed. By Sunday morning, most of the
refugees had left the terminal.

In Vienna, Austrian relief workers and other volunteers offered tea,
cigarettes, candy, food, clothing and blankets to the migrants.

Abdulmalik al Khaled, a medical student fleeing Syria, said he could
not believe the warm welcome he received when he got off the train.

“It is very, very, very good,“ he said, as he prepared to leave for
Germany, where he hopes to get help from the German government to
continue work on his medical degree. “If I don’t want to complete my
studies, I want to stay here.

But Germany may be better than here to complete studies, so I
will travel to there. But it’s better here, in my opinion. Look,
everybody is welcome in this country.”

Some in Europe are expressing concerns that the massive influx of
mostly Muslim refugees may dramatically change the demographics of
their continent, where low birth rates suggest the native population is
not due to replace itself in the next generation.

Denise Neuhauser, a 30-year-old Austrian volunteer handing out candy on
the station platform, said those are not immediate concerns.

“I really don’t know what the bigger picture is, but right now, take
care of the people, give them food, give them drink, give them shelter
and let them pass through.”

For most refugees arriving at the station Sunday, the passage was
remarkably efficient, with Austrian police and railway workers helping
the migrants transfer directly to another platform where they
immediately boarded trains for Germany.

Abdulmalik al Khaled and his cousins relaxed in a room next to the
platform as they recharged their smart phones. One of the first
calls he planned to make was to his cousin, who is making the same
journey and is now waiting in Macedonia before seeing whether it is
possible to make the trek through Serbia and then to cross to Hungary.

“I tell him when he arrives here, here is better than any country. I
will tell him that.”

Hungarian leaders are expressing concern that the news of easier
passage will encourage more migrants to make the journey and have been
fortifying the fence along the border where most of the migrants have
been entering illegally. Hundreds continued to cross the border from
Serbia into Hungary on Sunday.

Austria, meanwhile, said it planned to eventually phase out emergency
measures that have made it possible for the migrants to cross the
border from Hungary.

"We have always said this is an emergency situation in which we must
act quickly and humanely," Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said
Sunday. "Now we have to move step-by-step away from emergency measures
towards normality in conformity with the law and dignity."

Faymann spoke Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who threw
her country's doors wide open to the migrants, and Hungarian Prime
Minister Viktor Orban, whose government is building a razor wire fence
along the Serbian border to keep the migrants out.

Syrian refugees interviewed in Vienna overwhelmingly expressed a desire
to go home, but said that will not be possible as long as the war
between the government of Bashir al Assad and rebel groups continues.

Abdulmalik al Khaled puts that responsibility on the United States. He
had a message for U.S. President Barack Obama: “If you want to stop
this problem, you have to stop the war. You can do that. I know that.
You can.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Duried Bawadkji a Syrian-born resident
of Hungary who turned out at the Hegyeshalom border crossing between
Hungary and Austria on Sunday to volunteer and help direct the
migrants. He said the Obama administration’s support for democratic
change in Arab countries has gone wrong. In Syria, he said, the
so-called Arab Spring has brought tragedy.

“They are the ones responsible of doing this. Because when you
encourage people to go in the streets, either you go and help them and
finish the story as you have done in too many countries, or don’t do
anything like this. Just leave people alone. Leave it how
it was.”

Number of senators on fence
reduced as Congress returns

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

As U.S. lawmakers prepare to return to Washington from a month-long
recess, a flurry of senators have announced their positions on the
international nuclear accord with Iran. The pact has more than enough
support to survive, but still lacks the backing required to prevent
Congress from passing an initial resolution of disapproval.

“Frankly, this is not the agreement I hoped for. I have serious
concerns based on Iran’s past behavior of cheating on nuclear
agreements," said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat.

He is not wildly enthusiastic about the Iran nuclear deal. But, like
most Democrats, he supports it anyway.

“We cannot trust Iran, but this deal, based on distrust, verification,
deterrence, and strong, principled multilateral diplomacy, offers us
the best opportunity to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,"
he said.

In recent days, five other Democratic senators issued similar
statements of support despite misgivings. New Jersey's Cory Booker said
“It is better to support a deeply flawed deal, for the alternative is
far worse.” Mark Warner of Virginia said, “While I choose to support
the deal, I am not satisfied with it.”

Until Friday, only one Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, had
announced opposition to the deal. Since then, he has been joined by
Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

“We know that, despite the fact that Iran claims its nuclear
program is for peaceful purposes, that they have violated the
international will as expressed by various U.N. Security Council
resolutions, and by deceit, deception and delay advanced their program
to the point of being a threshold nuclear state," said Menendez.

Given unified Republican opposition to the accord, all eyes are on the
remaining handful of Democratic senators yet to announce. Already,
there is ample backing to sustain President Barack Obama’s promised
veto of a resolution of disapproval from Congress. The undecided
senators will determine whether Senate action can be blocked altogether.

“If that happens, the resolution of disapproval won’t reach the
president’s desk, and there will be no need to exercise the veto.
That’s a tough goal but a possible one," said former U.S. ambassador
Norman Eisen of the Brookings Institution.

An initial vote in the House of Representatives could come by week’s
end.

U.S. celebrates Labor Day
as unemployment is lower

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Americans observe the Labor Day federal holiday today.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in his weekly address Saturday that
Labor Day is a day "we set aside every year to honor the hardworking
men and women who fought for so many of the rights that we take for
granted today."

He said the people involved in the labor movement worked "not just for
a bigger paycheck for themselves, but for more security and prosperity
for the folks working next to them as well." He said, "That's how we
built the great American middle class."

Obama said "Over the past five and a half years, our businesses have
created 13.1 million new jobs in total, the longest streak of job
creation on record."

In a report Friday from the Labor Department, the U.S. unemployment
rate fell to the lowest level in seven-and-a-half years in August; 5.1
percent.

That is a drop of two-tenths of a percent from the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the economy had a net gain of 173,000
jobs, which is less than most economists had predicted.

This report is a key part of the data that leaders of the U.S. central
bank will consider as they decide how soon and how much to raise the
benchmark interest rate. It has been at a record low level since 2008
in a bid to boost economic growth during and following the financial
crisis.

White House economic adviser Jason Furman said the economy gained 8
million jobs over the past three years, but warned it could face
"headwinds" from the global economy.

Texas hospital not ready
for ebola, expert report says

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

A hospital in the southern U.S. state of Texas was not prepared last
year to treat the first person diagnosed with the ebola virus in the
United States nor to ensure the safety of the two nurses who contracted
the virus while treating the patient, according to a new report.

In their report, a panel of independent experts said it was evident
that personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
plus federal and state officials, were learning alongside the actual
health care providers at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian émigré, initially sought
treatment at the hospital’s emergency room Sept. 25 for a headache,
nausea and extremely high temperature. He had arrived several days
earlier from his native country, where he’d helped carry a woman
infected with the disease.

Duncan was sent home with antibiotics but returned three days later and
was hospitalized. He died Oct. 8.

"It is unclear why a patient who had developed a fever of 103 was not
reexamined prior to discharge or whether the physician was advised or
aware of the elevated temperature," the report said.

The findings revealed that while information about Duncan's travel
history to Africa was gathered by a nurse, it was not verbally
communicated to a physician because the information had been entered
into the electronic health record.

"The health care team apparently relied too heavily on communication
through the electronic health record," the panel said.

The CEO of Texas Health Resources, which owns the Dallas hospital and
23 others in north Texas, said he welcomed the panel’s report.

Barclay Berdan said he believes that it "will lead us to better
diagnoses of diseases in our emergency rooms, better care for our
patients overall, and better coordination with local, state and federal
officials in the event another rare event like this unfolds."

The hospital group already is utilizing measures recommended by the
panel, it said.

The panel report comes amid a lawsuit from Nina Pham, one of the
infected nurses, the Associated Press reports. The suit alleges the
hospital group failed to provide training and proper protective gear.

"It does not appear that issues such as personal protective equipment,
waste management and other challenges that would emerge as critical
were addressed by CDC at the onset of this event," the report said.

The findings said "health care workers had areas of exposed skin that
were not fully covered or shielded," exposing them to massive and
highly infectious fluids from Duncan.

Mafi Real Estate: Houses, lots and farms in
Costa Rica
If you do not find, what are you looking for, contact us
WE HAVE A NETWORK OF OVER 500 brokers across the country to get what
you are looking for.English Calls: Miguel
Fiatt Sauma or Paule Ortiz
Phone/Fax.+506 2238-5029
Cel. +506 8399-7000
Email: mfiatt@mafirealestate.com
Web Page: www.mafirealestate.com

8609-2/20/16

Re/Max Ocean Surf and Sun:
The experts in buying
property in Costa Rica, with more than 20 years experience and the
largest networked team of agents in the country. We can help you
learn if investing in Costa Rica is right for you with our low-key,
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more about Costa Rica properties, including condos, homes, lots and
commercial real estate. Call us: Ocean Surf and Sun Int. Realty
Ldta at 011 (506) 2653-0073 or send us an email at: info@remax-oceansurf-cr.com

Lovely east coast property for sale
This is a huge property surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens. The
house is about 85% built, but I will give you the property completely
finished. The whole land includes 7,886 m2 or 84,884 ft2 of
forest and gardens
in a mountain area of Cimarrones, Limón, east coast. Full house
with
large master bedroom plus bathroom. One extra guest bedroom. Large
dining room. Large kitchen area. Another extra bathroom for guests.
Large laundry room and two cellars (storage areas). The house has wide
corridors where you will see a breathtaking view of large gardens and
forest. I am open to hear your offer. The full property and land
price
is $125,000. Call Harold Fonseca, Phone number (506) 8702-4217, Email: hfonseca24@gmail.com

8794-10/4/15

Charming small
oceanfront
hotel for sale in Playa Palo Seco
Ideal oceanfront location with back up to a mangrove estuary. The
charming small hotel has a fully equipped kitchen, bar and restaurant
and is exceptionnally well maintained. Located on a very private beach
of the central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica 35 minutes north of
Quepos-Manuel Antonio and 45 minutes south of Playa Jacó.
The main building is a two-storey house with 12 bedrooms. The lot
measures 3,054 M2. Beautiful gardens around the large pool and
exceptional flora and fauna. Well mentioned in tourist guides like
Lonely Planet and Guide Ulysse. Offered at $1,250,000. USD
e-mail: marietta234@yahoo.es
or call (506) 8707-1037 (506) 2778-8408
Web http://mariettedaignault.point2agent.com

8792-10/31/15

Big House for Sale in Playa Grande, Santa Cruz,
Guanacaste
834.62 square meters property with 326 square meters construction.
Two-story house with front porch, entry lobby, living room, dinning
room, large kitchen, breakfast room, large cupboard, 3 1⁄2 bathrooms, 3
large bedrooms. The main bedroom includes jacuzzi and balcony.
Playground, office, laundry area, garage for two cars, own and
municipal potable water supply, electricity service, cable TV system,
A/C. Located 700 meters from Las Colinas Golf Course, near the airport,
Tamarindo Beach and the best beaches of the country. With an additional
2,866.33 square meters building lot with three terraces. Excellent
construction and great details. Great Price $388,000 For more
information, please contact us:
Email stanleystephendorn@yahoo.com
Phone (506) 2653-6417.
Cell (506) 8825-8942 / (506) 8916-0734.

Unique opportunity, 6 units 80% finished luxury condo project. Best
location in Escazú. Condos have amazing views and privacy.
There is
option to build 5 more units in the same complex. Project located only
5 minutes away from Multiplaza, CIMA Hospital and Escazú's
best amenities. All permits in place.

This exceptional private ranch
sits on a 9+ hectare lot and supports 15-20 horses. Only 2 hours south
of San José, on the road to Puriscal. Roomy stalls all with
drains, water hookup, lights and fans, grooming and shoeing
área. Two-story house all furnished and cowboy house. Don't miss
your chance on that turnkey operation. Offered at $749,000.
E-mail: marietta234@yahoo.es
or call (506) 8707-1037
(506) 2778-8408 Web: http://mariettedaignault.point2agent.com

9771-9/22/15

on one big lot in Esterillos Oeste,
(Central Pacific)
Located on a breezy hill just 4 minutes walk to the beach, surf and
tide-pools, only 20 minutes drive north to Jacó nightlife and
shopping or south to the rural town of Parrita.

Second, a completely
private single-storey. 2-bedroom (sleeps 4), 1-bathroom home
with big back yard at a lower level on the same, big fully titled
1,100M2 lot.. Full security bars at all doors and windows, plus locking
vehicle access and pedestrian gates at the street. In a very safe
neighborhood, with private and natural surroundings

Well maintained, fully and tastefully furnished and equipped, hot
water, local phone, cable TV/DVD and high speed wireless
internet The houses have been rented for both long-term and
vacation for $100/$80 per day and $1,500/$1,200 per month respectively.
See this place, you will love it! Then make an offer. E-mail azucarb@racsa.co.cr or call
(506) 8386-8825. Rodney, asking $350,000.

8769-9/18/15

Mountain home w/million dollar view near
San Ramón
Beautiful home in the mountains near San Ramón with 180-degree
view of the gulf of Nicoya. 7 miles from San Ramón, 1 mile from
Interamericana highway. 3,200 foot elevation so temp is 65 to 75 year
around. Electric gate, private drive. house built in 2010. 2 bedrooms,
1 bath, appliances included. High-speed internet installed, Price for
sale $179,000
Contact Mike: mmpeace@hotmail.com
Check out slide show HERE!

8736-10/1/15

A beautiful American style suburban home
just reduced.

A beautiful American
style suburban home, 2,700 sq ft of living space with 5 bedrooms, 3
bathrooms, front and rear living rooms, laundry area, kitchen and small
attached library nook, arched windows and doors and connected hallways,
exotic wood interior ceilings and trim, tile floors thru-out. The
lot is 835 m2 with mature landscape and orchid nurseries surrounding
the house. There is an enclosed workshop and BBQ area in the back yard
with lots of storage under roof, plus a nursery for an herb/vegetable
garden. This is a very well-kept property with many upgrades, a
private feel but yet only 5 minutes from the center of town.
Pérez Zeledón is the commercial hub of the southern zone
and considered to be one of the best places to live in all of Costa
Rica, the perfect size town, not too big and not too small. The
beach is 45 minutes to the west and a short drive to the cool mountains
is to the east. In between, this large valley has a moderate
climate. Pérez has plenty of modern goods and services, an
excellent farmers market, private schools, private doctors and clinics,
all you need without having to go to the crazy madness of San
José. Just reduced to $239,000.
Call Jeff: 8824-8113 or 8725-8176. Email: angelsdad@me.com

The farm is at the
highest point on a stunning ridge bordered by pristine Costa Rican
primary forest on all sides of the property, with active wildlife all
throughout the area. On each of its gently rolling terraced lomas you
get a glimpse of Volcán Arenal from a distance. This property
has four different lagunas, a working organic farm and nursery, mature
fruit trees, sheep corral, ideal for grazing horses with stunning views
from all the hillsides. The Northern Zone of Costa Rica is the
country's best kept secret, providing a perfect home base location to
travel the country's many destinations while still maintaining the best
climate at 400 meters above sea level.

Business
for sale or lease (paid category)Live the dream!
Several profitable businesses, including a regional radio station, are
for sale in Costa Rica. Certain purchases can provide the new owner
with residency as well as a great lifestyle. So live your dream while
making a profit. Contact: manager@crbusiness.biz.

So, you planted some nice clumping bamboo and watched it
race skyward. It is funny stuff, bamboo, but after all, it is a grass,
no matter

how
tree-like in size it becomes.

Watch your new bamboo shoots. They will be just
like the mature
stem in diameter. Unlike a tree with its growth rings, bamboo comes out
of the ground with its one and only diameter and can reach adult height
in one growing season. The new stem – which looks a bit like

an
asparagus – grows to nearly full height before putting out any
branches. All of the power for this push upward comes from
the roots and is supported by the branches of mature plants. That power
is massive. One species of bamboo has been clocked with a growth rate
of a milimeter every two minutes. That's 3 centimeters or over
1.25 inches every hour.

With its height completed in about 4 months the wall of the stalk or
clum hardens over the next two seasons and the bamboo is ready to
harvest in its third year. After it reaches maturity, bamboo
begins to accumulate a fungus and decays over the next few years. A
life cycle of individual stalks is five to seven years. For use in
construction or decoration, bamboo is usually harvested in that third
year.

And what are you going to do with all that bamboo? First, you will cut
and dry it over several months. In Georgia's drier climate, my bamboo
was subject to splitting as it dried/ this has not been a problem in
our more humid climate although the bamboo needs to dry a bit longer.

Then there is the cutting, traditionally done with a special saw that
is used to cut only in one direction to reduce splintering. Then comes
the peeling of the outer layer. I use a heavy knife and long strokes.
Sanding follows. Without peeling and sanding, nothing you put on the
bamboo will stick, not paint, not varnish. Paint, in particular, will
look dull. Varnish will just peal off. Of course, if you are going to
use your bamboo for construction and then discard it, you only need to
cut and dry it first.

Now, I am not a bamboo expert and I make no claim that this is all you
need to know about bamboo. Far from it. There are nice thick books on
growing and working bamboo. Find one at a bookstore or download one on
your Kindle and go play with your bamboo. Why? Because it's fun! And
isn't that what gardening is all about?

Plant for
the Week

I said that bamboo is easy to start and here is proof by way of a
not-all-that-great picture.

The green shoots are from a section of
bamboo that we planted four weeks ago by laying it in a shallow trench
and covering it with dirt. You can see the original bamboo pole at the
bottom of the picture.

Started this way, the first shoots will not be
as large as the final bamboo as there are no mature plants to give them
that push. That will come later. Just be patient.

The
contents of this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río
Colorado S.A. 2015 and may not be reproduced anywhere without
permission.Abstracts and
fair use are permitted. Check HERE for
details

From Page 7:

G-20 ministers
urge resisting protectionism

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 leading
economies say global growth is slower than they had expected, but they
are confident that worldwide economic recovery will gain momentum.

In the final communique of a two-day summit in the Turkish capital,
Ankara, top finance officials from the G-20 nations promised Saturday
to take decisive action to keep economic recovery upbeat. They also
pledged to refrain from competitive currency devaluations, a reference
to China's recent devaluation and a warning to emerging-market nations
not to take similar action to protect their own currencies.

Financial markets worldwide have been in turmoil for weeks due to
concern about a slowdown in China's economy and its sudden devaluation
of the yuan last month.

Since currency devaluations effectively lower the price of a country's
exports, there are concerns that China's devaluation may prompt other
nations to take similar action. Beijing's monetary action already has
driven down the value of many smaller countries' currencies. The G-20
vowed to resist all forms of protectionism.

U.S. officials said the American delegation in Ankara, led by Treasury
Secretary Jacob Lew, met with its Chinese counterpart on the sidelines
of the summit. The U.S. side said it was important for China to make
clear that it will allow the yuan to move up as well as down in
response to financial markets.

A senior U.S. Treasury official told reporters, "It would be a very bad
thing for the global economy if we get into a pattern of competitive
devaluation." During detailed discussions, the official said, all
agreed that competitive devaluation is a threat that has to be guarded
against.

Another major theme at the G-20 meetings was the monetary policy of the
U.S. Federal Reserve, which has been expected for months to lift
interest rates to match the quickening pace of U.S. economic growth.

Financial officials in many other countries are concerned that higher
U.S. interest rates will persuade foreign investors to shift their
capital into dollar-based funds and reduce financial liquidity, the
supply of money available to fuel business growth.

In line with the improving world economic outlook, the G-20 said a
tightening of monetary policy through interest rate hikes is more
likely in some advanced economies. However, the group urged central
banks and governments not to rely heavily on interest rates alone, but
also to practice fiscal policies that support growth and create jobs.

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, told
reporters Saturday that the U.S. Federal Reserve in particular should
increase interest rates only when it is certain that all growth
indicators dictate such a move.